My  battery has failed twice within a couple of weeks so I charged it fully re-connect it with an ammeter in series and after about 20 minutes of shutting down the ignition it is draining 0.2 amps which seems a little high to me, I expected some drain (a few mili amps to operate the car's security system) but 0.2 of an amp over the course of time will flatten the battery as I only do a few miles a week and probably not enough to replace the charge.

I have checked all of the obvious causes of drain, glove box light internal light, to no avail, any suggestions? 

 

Was the current draw of 0.2 amp with the car locked? 

3 hours ago, iantt said:

Was the current draw of 0.2 amp with the car locked? 

I'm intrigued, Ian: why would that make any difference?

I had similar symptoms to Idris with an apparent discharge of 0.2A.  Recently, the car stood for 10 days without use and the standing voltage was 12.2, as opposed to 12.3 when in regular use, and fired up instantly.

Get the alternator tested, it may be charging whilst the engine is running and the light in the cluster extinguishes but may be gone open circuit. That’s the first thing I would look at.

On 2/4/2020 at 2:44 PM, iantt said:

Was the current draw of 0.2 amp with the car locked? 

Yes it was locked I sat inside the car and waited about 20 minutes for all of the systems including the radio to shut down. Then waited until I was satisfied that had happened checked the meter and it was reading 0.19 amps. 

18 hours ago, Milkman said:

Get the alternator tested, it may be charging whilst the engine is running and the light in the cluster extinguishes but may be gone open circuit. That’s the first thing I would look at.

The battery voltage reads 12 .3 volts with the engine still and 13 .9 volts with the engine running so the alternator appears to be ok although it's amps flowing into the battery that count.

I do have a clip on ammeter,but it only works on ac circuits. 

21 hours ago, Freddy42 said:

I'm intrigued, Ian: why would that make any difference?

I had similar symptoms to Idris with an apparent discharge of 0.2A.  Recently, the car stood for 10 days without use and the standing voltage was 12.2, as opposed to 12.3 when in regular use, and fired up instantly.

I purchased the battery from Euro Car Parts and they have offered me a replacement as it is less than 3 years old so I think that I will accept their offer.

You can use a DVM to get an idea of the current, by measuring the voltage between -ve battery terminal and the earth bolt that is on the body.  It will only measure millivolts, but if you know the discharge current is 200mA then you know that the measured voltage is equivalent to 200mA.  If you then start the engine, it should then charge and the measured polarity reverse and the voltage increase.  The charge current will increase in the same proportion, and one would think it would start off at about 100x. giving a possible 20A ?

13.9V sounds adequate, but a little low for a Ford of that ilk with a calcium battery.  From memory, my 2007 Fiesta is about 14.2V.